Served Sweet Read online

  Anson sighed. “No.”

  “Then why not tell her?”

  “Because if I do she’ll leave. And then I won’t be able to get her back.” The truth hurt. “But if I don’t make a real move, I haven’t tried and failed. I have room to perfect my approach.”

  “Are you serious?” Dex blinked. “For a guy with a genius IQ, as you’re always telling me, you are seriously fucking stupid.”

  “Thanks for nothing, Poindexter.”

  Dex sat up and leaned toward him. “Riley wasn’t asking for a ring, dumbass. She just wants to know that you care about her. And sorry, but saying you’re having monogamous sex isn’t a commitment. It’s safe sex. Period.”

  “What does it matter? The minute I tell her I love her she’s going to have her a-ha moment and call me a loser to my face.”

  “What?”

  “You know. The girls and their zeal to ‘get revenge’,” he said with air quotes.

  “That was Ann and Maya. Riley’s the girl with sense. She’s smart and too busy to deal with that kind of crap. I know. I asked Maya.”

  “Yeah, because she’d never lie to you.”

  “Not about this.” Dex gave him a pitying glance. “Come on, man. So you tell her you love her and she tells you to take a hike. You try again until she says yes.”

  “Not me.”

  “Of course not. He who never makes a mistake.” Dex snorted. “Get off it, cuz. You’re not perfect.”

  “No, but if you ask my parents, I’m pretty damn close to it.”

  “Huh? So you’re afraid to deal with Riley because your parents might be upset?”

  “What does this have to do with them?”

  “My question, exactly.”

  Anson tried to gather his thoughts and explain without sounding like such a wimp. “You don’t get it. You’re used to failure.”

  “Thanks so much. Asshole.”

  “My point is you never quit. You let nothing get you down. You’ve always worked harder than anyone I know.”

  “Not harder than you.”

  “I don’t know.” Anson wondered. “Things come easy to me, and I guess I’m spoiled. But nothing’s easy about Riley, and Dex, she matters. If I fuck this up, I’m done. I just… I guess it’s easier to put off trying than to fail and have her hate me.”

  “You really are a drama queen, aren’t you?” Dex shook his head. “Just tell her how you feel. Riley is a beautiful, smart, amazing woman. Hell, she’s dealt with Maya for years and hasn’t lost it. That’s a gift.”

  “True.” Anson smiled for the first time in days.

  “You’re a Black. Act like you have a pair. No one knows what the future has in store for us, but at least you can try to make it what you want. If Riley says she wants you, great. If not, at least you tried. And yeah, you can keep hounding the woman until she gets a restraining order or throws your ass in jail.”

  Anson hadn’t considered that.

  “I’m kidding. Don’t stalk her.” Dex chuckled. “You’ve always been an odd duck. Smarter, faster, richer than most guys I know. You get whatever pussy you want, and you rarely have to work for it.”

  “Riley’s different. She’s not pussy,” Anson said, angered at his cousin for being so crass.

  “I know that. I’m glad you do too.”

  “For the record, I’ve never thought of a woman as pussy. Maybe in my less mature years, a piece of ass.”

  “Ha. Maya calls herself that. And boy, is she.”

  “So’s Riley.” Anson groaned. “Dex, I gave her what she wanted and she still didn’t want me.”

  “You told her she could call you her boyfriend, and knowing you, it was in a dismissive tone.”

  “Well, she annoyed me.”

  “Everyone annoys you.”

  “You’re annoying me.”

  “See?” Dex threw his hands up. “But I still don’t get why this is even an issue. You’re being stupid, and that’s not like you.”

  “But it is.” Anson wanted to pull his hair out by the roots. “Everyone thinks I’m perfect Anson who never makes a mistake, never fails at anything. But what if I ruin everything with Riley? I can’t make her love me. Nothing I do, the math, the logic, it won’t ever come to the same answer with that woman. She makes no sense, and she’s the smartest woman I’ve ever met.”

  “Cuz, that’s a woman for you. And don’t tell Maya I said that.” Dex looked him over and narrowed his eyes. “I’m going to be straight with you.”

  “So calling me stupid was sugarcoating things?”

  “You’re a financial genius. You’re an amazing skier and runner. Yeah, you win lots of medals and accolades—and before you ask, I know what that means. But when it comes to people, you’re stunted. Personally, I blame your parents for putting too much pressure on you at too young an age. That or you have some kind of personality disorder. Maya thinks it’s a form of narcissism but I’m going with OCD.”

  “Thanks so much for the armchair psychoanalysis.”

  “Oh, it’s not just me. Mom and Dad agree.”

  “Shit.”

  “Point is, you aren’t the best with people. But Riley doesn’t care about that. She likes you, doofus. Maybe even loves you.”

  Anson could only hope. It scared him shitless to think she might not. God, how did people handle all this emotional rollercoaster nonsense? He hated being unsure. Anson lived in the now, not the maybe never.

  “Go against type. Try and be open with her, even if she stomps all over your heart. Hell, tell yourself it’s an experiment. It’s not failure if she’s not into you, it’s a learning exercise.”

  “Hmm. I hadn’t thought of it like that.”

  “Because you’re an imbecile.”

  “Watch it, musclehead.”

  “You have nothing to lose at this point. She’s already not talking to you.”

  “I guess.”

  “And hey, Valentine’s Day is coming up. That charity gala? What better place to show Riley how much you care for her?”

  “You mean, as all the eligible women in Bend bid on my amazing intellect and sexy body?”

  Dex pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yeah, that ego is just… I don’t know how she puts up with you. Anyway, my point is, romance the woman.”

  “I tried to romance her with dinner and a massage.”

  “This time add the words. You have to say the words. Women are all about the verbal.”

  “I guess.”

  “And if she gets cranky or annoyed with you, regroup and try again later. Remember, it’s not failure. It’s one part of an experiment.”

  Anson said drily, “You don’t have to talk slowly. I get your point.”

  “Okay, braintrust. So what’s your grand plan?”

  “It is Valentine’s Day. Something romantic?”

  “She likes chocolate, I know that.”

  “Chocolate, hmm…”

  Riley had only decided to attend the bachelor auction because she’d been guilted into going by Ann. At least she had Ann and Maya with her. Their dates rounded out their table, leaving an extra spot for her no-show plus-one.

  Ben had wanted to attend, but apparently he and Chatty had hit it off at Anson’s open house and were spending their Valentine’s Day together. He’d offered to put off the outing because he hated to stand Riley up, but Riley wouldn’t hear it. Why should she get in the way of a couple in love? Or at least if not in love, then making the attempt to get there.

  “This is so cool. I’ve never been to something like this before.” Ann sounded so excited. She looked like a princess in her dark blue dress, her wine-red hair cascading down her back. Jack wore a tuxedo and looked like James Bond.

  Dex and Maya looked amazing as well. A sexy couple who could barely take their eyes from each other.

  So romantic, and so telling of what she and Anson didn’t have. Might never have.

  “Why am I here?” She sighed and drew invisible hearts on the table with her finger.
>
  “Because Anson might be a dick, but he’s family—or so I’m told,” Maya replied.

  Dex frowned, and she patted his shoulder.

  “Say, did you guys figure out who won that contest you dared him to? You know, that knitting thing?” Jack asked. He chuckled. “Anson knitting. That’s a picture for sure.”

  Maya and Ann snickered as well.

  Before Riley could answer, the lights flickered and the announcer told everyone to grab their bidding paddles. She’d given hers to Maya, not wanting the temptation to spend her money on a man who couldn’t take the time to apologize in person.

  The texts and phone messages had annoyed her. As had the roses he’d sent her.

  Okay, the flowers had been nice, but she planned to hold on to her mad. For how long she had no idea, but she couldn’t forget the harsh fact Anson couldn’t own up to wanting to be with her.

  Several men lined up on a nearby raised platform in the shape of an L, like a runway model show. The hotel ballroom had been professionally decked out for the auction, with all proceeds benefiting the cancer center. After the auction, there would be dancing and partying to celebrate the night meant for lovers.

  She sighed. No more lovers for her anytime soon. Anson had thoroughly destroyed her for sex with other men. The thought of anyone but him made her sad, and she hated the thought that he’d have no qualms about bedding whoever bid on him. Well, maybe not sleeping with them, but he’d be dating them for sure.

  Not that she’d asked him to cancel the auction. She couldn’t. Hello, charity for cancer? Still, the man might as well have painted a target on his back declaring him open season. She’d already heard more than one fawning woman sighing over him.

  “Did you see Anson?” Ann was saying. “He looks amazing.” She glanced at Riley. “Sorry, but he does.”

  “What else is new?” Riley pushed away her dinner plate, having eaten little of the steak she’d been served.

  The auction got started, and several attractive candidates walked along the stage waving with good humor. Bachelors that should have appealed to her but didn’t. Doctors, lawyers, and one or two chefs even.

  Riley had room in her heart only for Anson, and when he walked out on stage with those killer green eyes and that smile, she wanted to eat him up. Jealousy surged as more than one catcall and wolf whistle filled the crowded room.

  The bidding started on the main attraction, and though Riley might have wanted to bid, she didn’t have the funds. The wealthy had come prepared to play.

  Ten thousand dollars later—a new auction record—Anson walked off the stage with a large smile on his face.

  “So you’re really not talking to him anymore?” Maya asked.

  “I wonder who bought him,” Ann said.

  “Someone wrinkly and toothless, I hope,” Dex muttered. “Ass was all over me about wearing something nice tonight so I wouldn’t embarrass him. Like I don’t know how to dress myself.”

  Maya coughed to unsuccessfully cover a laugh. “Riley? You didn’t answer me. Are you guys talking or what?”

  “I don’t know. He hasn’t called me since Wednesday.”

  “Um, that’s like four days ago. Are your fingers broken that you can’t pick up a phone?”

  Riley glared. “For your information, he’s been avoiding me at work too. So yeah, I’m a little peeved.”

  “I thought you didn’t want anything to do with him,” Ann apparently felt the overbearing need to add.

  Dex watched her with curiosity, and she knew he’d go blabbing all this to Anson.

  “Don’t go sharing any of this with your cousin,” she warned him. “I’m annoyed, yes. But we’re now in business together.” She’d signed the contracts yesterday. “We need to get along, and we’re both adults.”

  “You sure about that?” Dex asked. “Because sometimes it’s like Anson is four.”

  “Funny.”

  “Especially when he— Oh hi, cuz. We were just talking about you.”

  Anson greeted the table with a smile, but Riley noticed his gaze lingered on her longer than the others, which made her feel good. I am so pathetic.

  “Riley, you look lovely tonight.”

  “Only Anson would use a word like lovely and not come off like a ninety-year-old man,” Jack jeered.

  Riley politely thanked Anson for the compliment. She’d chosen her deep red dress with care, liking the plunging neckline at odds with the dress’s modest fit and length. She felt sophisticated and sexy and hoped she was knocking Anson on his ass.

  He sure as hell had thrown her for a loop. The man wore a tux so well. He looked more muscular under his tailored coat, and he’d gotten his hair cut. He still wore it longer than Dex, but it now had a subtle style to it. The dark black stuff looked blue under the light.

  “So who won you?” Ann asked him.

  “I don’t know. We’ll be meeting the ladies in half an hour when we start the music.”

  “For the V-Day party,” Maya explained.

  “That’s nice.” Riley planned to make her excuses and hide out in her room as soon as she could. They’d each gotten hotel rooms for the night, all of them wanting to enjoy themselves and not worry about driving home.

  Except Riley would be going back to her room solo.

  Just like last year, but this year she had to pay for a room instead of sitting at home.

  Anson chatted with the others, including her in the conversation. He looked happy, and though she liked seeing him upbeat, she also wished he’d seem a little more glum. Her quasi-breakup should have impacted him at least a little.

  Grumbling under her breath after he’d left them to go join his new girlfriend, she yawned and made her excuses to leave. To get Maya off her back, she had to swear she’d be back down after she changed her shoes. Yeah, like she planned on wearing her sneakers with the dress. They were the only other pair of shoes she’d brought with her.

  Returning to her room and fighting a headache, she felt none of the revelry around her. No love for her this year. Again. She sighed and used her keycard, then entered and walked past the bathroom and closet and turned on the lights.

  And froze.

  Rose petals lay strewn over the floor and bed. A tray holding two filled champagne flutes and a bottle cooling in an ice bucket sat on the nearby table. She walked deeper into the room, and low jazz sounded from behind her.

  She turned to see Anson standing in the doorway to the bathroom with his phone in hand, the music coming from it.

  “Anson?”

  “Congratulations. You won me. Now what do you want me to do first?”

  “Won you? There must be some mistake. I didn’t bid.” Then his words penetrated and she wanted to scream. “Are you seriously telling me your winner gets rose petals, booze and your body?”

  “You really are beautiful when you’re gearing up to belt me,” he said with a grin.

  His humor did nothing to assuage her anger.

  But his nearness did. He put the phone down by the champagne and stalked her until she backed into the wall.

  “God, I missed you.” He kissed her before she could yell at him.

  And she forgot everything but his taste.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Anson knew he needed to talk to her first. Sex would only complicate matters. But when her hands cupped his erection, when her tongue traced his lips and shot into his mouth, he forgot about caution and indulged.

  He kissed her back, his hunger magnified tenfold. The dress she wore had more give than the green thing she’d worn to the open house. He lifted the red fabric up her thighs and delved between her legs, seeking the sweet heat of her.

  She was so wet. Between his kisses and his fingers, he had her crying out his name.

  Before she could reach for him, he stepped back and let her dress flow back into place.

  “Damn. We need to talk, Riley.”

  “We, oh. Yeah, we should, I guess.” She shivered, and he leaned forward to kiss
her again.

  He wanted her in the worst way. Hell, he could feel his underwear plastered to a wet spot over his cock. Getting drunk on her would be the best thing he’d done in days. But no, he had things to say.

  Pulling back, he took her by the hand and sat with her on the petal-strewn bed.

  Riley took another look around. “Anson, what is all this?”

  “Happy Valentine’s Day.” He kissed her. He had to.

  She sighed into his embrace before pulling back.

  He put a bit of space between them before he forgot himself, slammed her down on the bed and took her. “Riley…”

  “Just tell me.”

  “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. About what I want, about what I’m afraid to lose.”

  She watched him, her hazel eyes mysterious.

  “I don’t suppose you want to say anything to me first?”

  She shook her head and waited.

  He sighed. “I didn’t think so.” Then he let it flow, everything he’d been thinking, everything he’d wanted to say but hadn’t. “You scare me.”

  “Me?”

  “Yeah. You. Riley Hewitt. The beautiful girl who was such a pain in my ass all through the school. The one girl who mattered most who never thought much of me at all.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “It’s what it seemed like to me. I worked so hard to impress you for so long, but everything I did had you hating me.”

  “Wait. What?”

  “I tried to be smart so you’d see we had something in common. We both liked track, but when I ran faster, you just got annoyed.”

  She stared at him. “You wanted me to notice you?”

  He nodded and took her hand in his. “I tried offering you advice, helping or tutoring. And you always sneered at me and sent me packing.” He smiled. “I fell in love.”

  “What?” she croaked.

  “Well, I didn’t think it was love back then. But years passed, and I always wondered about you. I’d hear from Mom or Dad about you, and I realized how much we have in common.”

  She gave him a shy smile that made his heart beat faster. “Married to our jobs instead of people.”

  “Yeah.” He kissed her again because he had to. “Dex told me I’m an ass, well, not in so many words. He said you needed to know I was committed to you.”